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| Start of the trail km 82 |
Day 1
Choquequirao: Very easy day, 10 km absolutely flat, then a descend to the campsite that was not too steep, followed by setting up camp and not really eating dinner since I had forgotten my vegetarian food and everyone had tuna.
Inka Trail: Also a very easy start to the day around noon, lunch early on the trail after an hour of flat walking, some ruins along the way, followed by 2 hours more of walking to the first campsite. We arrived and the porters had already set up the campsite, dinner was cooking and all had to do was meet the rest of the travelers and play cards. Before dinner we had afternoon tea and then a 2-course meal including vegetarian food was served.
Thoughts: It was easy to see early on that this was going to be a very different kind of trip since it was organized by a tour company. It really felt like 5 star camping after planning everything ourselves.
Day 2
Choquequirao: A very hard day, we had to descend to the river only to ascend 1500 m to the top and it was a rough climb, with a million (exaggeration) switchbacks. We arrived by lunchtime, hungry and tired, only to have to cook lunch. After we walked the rest of the way to visit the ruins and arrived back at camp to cook dinner which included wine and s'mores!
Inka Trail: Considered to be the hardest day as you have to ascend Dead Woman’s pass (nearly a 14er). Out of a group of 21, I was the 3rd person to the top and glad that it wasn’t any worse to climb. We arrived at camp after an hour descend around 12:30pm. The rest of the group trickled in slowly and by 13:45 everyone was in the camp. We had lunch and then sat around in the cold for the afternoon until tea and dinner. Since we arrived so early I took 2 naps and then couldn’t sleep that night!
Thoughts: It is hard to wait for 21 people of different fitness levels to do anything. After lunch I was tired of course, but would have been able to continue walking. I was really quite bored all afternoon. I cherished the ability of being able to dictate how long things took and what you did when that we had when we planned the trip ourselves.
Day 3
Choquequirao: This was the crazy day when we decided to walk all the way back on the trail leaving at 9:00 in the morning and arriving to the city at 20:00. Obviously it was not an easy day!
Inka Trail: We had to ascend two more passes, the first being hard, but short, the second I didn’t even realize we had been ascending. Then we had to descend 2000 Inka steps, which is definitely not an easy task. We arrived at camp and there was a restaurant where people could take hot showers (I chose not to) and even buy beer! I enjoyed two beers after hiking all day.
Thoughts: Though I really wasn’t pleased at the end of day 3 of Choquequirao to arrive in the dark to french fries for dinner, it wasn’t terrible and it really highlighted our ability to choose how far to walk. It was nice to arrive to beer and for some showers, but really if you’re hiking do you really need it?
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| Our 21 person group on the top of the 2nd pass, day 3 |
Day 4
Choquequirao: What day 4? We had slept in a hostel and were back in Cusco with clean clothes and hot showers!
Inka Trail: We had unfortunate luck and walked the remaining 6 km in pouring rain. It was especially annoying because everyone walking the Inka Trail goes at the same time so we were all walking in a line at the slowest person’s pace- though I was quite shocked at how fast some people were able to walk when they are cold and want to get somewhere! Even the slowest people in the group kept up until the sun gate. The rain really obscured the view and the reveal of Machu Picchu which was too bad, but it was still a very beautiful view. After descending to the ruins, we had a 2 hour guided tour and then spent the afternoon in Aguas Calientes (of course it was completely sunny) until our train at 19:30 and didn’t arrive to Cusco until 23:30.
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| Pretty obscured view from the sun gate upon arrival to Machu Picchu |
Final thoughts: Both trips were really amazing and since I spent them with two different groups of friends, they were both very unique. It’s hard to say which I prefer, I didn’t like constantly waiting on slower people, but I did really enjoy having enough food to eat and meeting new people. Choquequirao was great for going at your own speed, but I did end up with a nasty cold for 2 weeks afterwards. I would recommend both in the end, but if you think the Inka Trail was really hard, definitely do not try Choquequirao. Though a mule carries more of your things, I was really exhausted after the 2nd day climb and it doesn’t compare at all to the level of difficulty of the 2nd day of the Inka Trail. Plus, if you’re really ambitious, apparently someone marathon ran the Inka Trail in 3 hours 45 minutes a couple years ago, I wonder how long Choquequirao would take?
Damage
Choquequirao: Sore, incredibly awful cold, a few blisters, a lot of bug bites
Inka Trail: Sore, blisters on my hip bones (who knew that could happen), sprained left ankle, no foot blisters, only 2 bug bites!
My time in Peru is up and though I wrote this in the Lima airport, I won’t be able to post it until I am back in the USA with stable internet. I'm back in the USA until December 14th and then continuing to travel to Germany, France and then finally ending travel for a few months with Israel in January!
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| Jolene and Jamil came all the way from the USA to join me on the hike! |
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